View source for Conoco

{{Short description|American petroleum company}}
{{About|the former independent company|its direct successor|ConocoPhillips|the American military airbase|Mission Support Site Conoco}}
{{Distinguish|text=television production firm [[Conaco]]}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Conoco Inc.
| former_name = {{plainlist|
* Continental Oil and Transportation Company (1875–1911)
* Continental Oil Company (1911–1999)
* Conoco, Inc. (1999–2002)
}}
| logo = Conoco logo.svg
| type = {{plainlist|
* [[Privately held company]] (1875–1884)
* [[Public company|Public]] (1911–1981; 1998–2002)
* [[Brand]] (2002–present)
}}
| traded_as = {{NYSE was|COC}} (1998–2002)<ref>{{cite news |title=Conoco to cut 975 jobs – Dec. 29, 1998 |url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/12/29/companies/conoco/ |access-date=15 November 2023 |publisher=[[CNN Money]] |date=29 December 1998}}</ref>
| fate = Merged with [[Phillips Petroleum]], remaining as a brand
| successors = {{plainlist|
* [[ConocoPhillips]] (2002)
* [[Phillips 66|Phillips 66 Company]] (2012)
}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1875|11|25}} in [[Ogden, Utah|Ogden]], Utah
| predecessor = {{plainlist|
* [[Standard Oil|Standard Oil Company]] (1911)
* [[Marland Oil Company]] (1929)
}}
| founder = Isaac Elder Blake
| area_served = Worldwide
| defunct = {{end date|2002|08|30}} (as a company)
| products = {{flat list|
* [[Gasoline]]
* [[convenience store]]
'''Select locations'''
* [[car wash]]
* [[Automobile repair shop|repair shop]]
* [[fast food restaurants]]
}}
| owner = Phillips 66 Company
| location = [[Westchase, Houston|Westchase]]
| hq_location_city = [[Houston]], ([[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]]), [[Texas]]
| industry = [[Petroleum industry|Petroleum]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.conoco.com/|conoco.com}}
}}
'''Conoco''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|ɒ|n|ə|k|oʊ}} {{respell|KON|ə|koh}}),<ref>{{Cite web|title=NLS Other Writings: The ABC Book, A Pronunciation Guide|url=https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/organization/standards-guidelines/pronunciation-guide/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) {{!}} Library of Congress}}</ref> formerly known as '''Continental Oil''', is an American [[Petroleum industry|petroleum brand]] that is operating under the current ownership of the [[Phillips 66 Company]] since 2012 and is headquartered in the [[Westchase, Houston|Westchase]] neighborhood of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], ([[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]]), [[Texas]]. The brand is one of the several successors of the original [[Standard Oil|Standard Oil Company]] ("[[oil trust]]" founded 1870 by industrial titan [[John D. Rockefeller]] (1839–1937). Conoco was a subsidiary of Standard Oil from 1884 until 1911 when the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], in an [[anti-trust]] legal case, [[Successors of Standard Oil|ruled to decouple and break up the monopolized entity]] of Standard Oil.

Alongside Phillips 66 and [[76 (gas station)|76]], it operates as one of the major fuel brands of the Phillips 66 Company.<ref name="CS News P66">{{cite news |title=Phillips 66 to Roll Out New Brand Images |url=https://csnews.com/phillips-66-roll-out-new-brand-images |access-date=15 November 2023 |work=Convenience Store News |agency=Convenience Store News |publisher=Ensemble IQ |date=15 July 2015 |language=en}}</ref> Of those two brands, Conoco has a more dominant presence of gas refueling stations in the markets of the [[U.S. state|states]] of [[Colorado]], Texas, [[Montana]], Missouri, and [[Oklahoma]] in the [[Midwestern United States]], as well as a growing presence in [[Eastern Pennsylvania]] following taking over the retail contracts of several [[Gulf Oil LP|Gulf Oil]] locations there, while having a complete absence in states such as [[California]] to the west and [[Florida]] to the far southeast.<ref name="no. of locations">{{cite web |title=Number of Conoco gas stations in the United States in 2023 |url=https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Conoco-USA/ |website=Scrapehero |access-date=15 November 2023}}</ref>

Continental Oil, originally based in [[Ogden, Utah|Ogden]], Utah was founded by Isaac Elder Blake in November 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company and was acquired nine years later in 1884 by the increasingly dominant [[Standard Oil Company]] (nicknamed the "[[oil trust]]", established 14 years earlier in 1870, by [[John D. Rockefeller|John D. Rockefeller Sr.]] 1839–1937).

Eighteen years after Standard Oil's federal court-ordered dissolution of 1911, [[Marland Oil Company]] (founded in 1921 by [[E. W. Marland|E. W. (Ernest Whitworth) Marland]] (1874–1941), oilman, businessman and later politician of [[Pennsylvania]] and later [[Oklahoma]]), would then acquire Continental Oil, moving its headquarters to Marland's home town of [[Ponca City, Oklahoma|Ponca City]], ([[Kay County, Oklahoma|Kay County]]), [[Oklahoma]], in 1929.

As the Continental-Marland acquisition took effect, Marland Oil favorably phased out its own personal name and rebranded itself into the more nationally known titles of Continental and Conoco nameplates. As it eventually became one of the largest oil companies in the [[United States]], Conoco further expanded its operations globally during the decade of the [[1970s]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Business Journal Interview with Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of ConocoPhillips (Video)|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2014/09/26/the-business-journal-interview-with-ryan-lance-ceo.html|access-date=15 November 2023 |work=Houston Business Journal|agency=[[American City Business Journals]] |publisher=CNN |date=26 September 2014}}</ref>

Similar to other oil companies during the [[1970s energy crisis]], initially caused by the 1973-1974 [[1973 oil crisis|Arab oil embargo]], Conoco's operations were negatively impacted and so in 1981, Conoco then the ninth-largest American oil company at the time, was embroiled in one of the most expensive corporate takeovers in U.S. history when the [[Mobil|Mobil Corporation]] and [[Seagram]] attempted to acquire the company. The [[DuPont]] company, of [[Wilmington, Delaware]] who was conjured up by Ralph Bailey (the C.E.O. of Conoco at the time) was brought in and hired as a so-called  [[White knight (business)|"white knight"]]<ref name="ABA DuPont">{{cite journal |last1=Gaines |first1=William R. |title=Pre-Reorganization Continuity of Interest and the Historic Shareholder Concept: J.E. Seagram Corp. v. Commissioner |journal=The Tax Lawyer |date=1996 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=249–263 |publisher=[[American Bar Association]] |edition=50 |jstor=20771863 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20771863 |access-date=15 November 2023}}</ref> and would eventually emerge triumphant defending Conoco from the two vendors (corporate predators).<ref name="WashPost DuPont">{{cite news |last1=Rowe Jr. |first1=James L. |title=Du Pont Wins Costly Fight Over Conoco |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/06/business/du-pont-victor-in-costly-battle-to-buy-conoco.html |access-date=15 November 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post|publisher=[[Nash Holdings]] |date=6 August 1981 |location=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]}}</ref> DuPont's acquisition of Conoco at US$1.5 billion, made it the largest merger in U.S. history upon to that time, surpassing that of the earlier [[Shell plc|Shell Oil]]’s acquisition of the [[South Belridge Oil Field#Extraction|Belridge Oil Company]] at USD$3.5 billion dollars in 1979.<ref name="NYT Takeover Conoco">{{cite news |last1=Noble |first1=Kenneth B. |title=TAKEOVER OF CONOCO BACKED BY DU PONT'S SHAREHOLDERS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/18/business/takeover-of-conoco-backed-by-du-pont-s-shareholders.html |access-date=15 November 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=18 August 1981}}</ref> Almost two decades later, in 1998, DuPont and Conoco announced their intentions to split which was commenced when DuPont sold 30% of its interest that year and the remaining 70% the following year in July 1999, officiating their corporate separation.

For many years, the company would operate its own [[oil refinery|oil refineries]]  until 2002 when it was merged with the [[Phillips Petroleum Company]] to form [[ConocoPhillips]]. A decade later, ConocoPhillips would then divest its downstream operations that consisted of its gas stations refueling operations under the brands of Conoco, [[Phillips 66]], and [[76 (gas station)|76]]. The divestiture would eventually commence and the spin-off that contained the downstream operations of ConocoPhillips went under a separate company known as the Phillips 66 Company.<ref name="CS News P66" />

== History ==
The "Continental Oil and Transportation Company" was founded by [[Isaac Elder Blake]] in November 1875.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.conocophillips.com/about-us/our-history/1909-1875/|title=1909–1875|website=ConocoPhillips|language=en|access-date=2018-07-11}}</ref><ref name="History">{{cite press release | url=http://www.pr.com/press-release/1366 | title=ConocoPhillips Announces Museum Plans For Ponca City and Bartlesville | publisher=ConocoPhillips | date=May 13, 2005 | access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref> Based in [[Ogden, Utah]], the company distributed the recently discovered mineral resources of [[petroleum]] / [[oil]] (first found in August [[1859]] by [[Edwin Drake]] (1819–1880), in a well drilled at [[Oil Creek (Allegheny River tributary)|Oil Creek]], near [[Titusville, Pennsylvania|Titusville]], ([[Crawford County, Pennsylvania|Crawford County]]), in the far northwestern corner of [[Pennsylvania]]) and its refined by-products of [[kerosene]], [[benzene]], and other products in the [[Western United States]].<ref name="corp_history">{{cite web | url=http://www.conocophillips.com/who-we-are/our-legacy/history/Pages/default.aspx | title=Our History: 1875–1909 | publisher=ConocoPhilips | access-date=August 1, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615052859/http://www.conocophillips.com/who-we-are/our-legacy/history/Pages/default.aspx | archive-date=June 15, 2013 }}</ref> Continental Oil Company was acquired by [[Standard Oil|Standard Oil Company]] in 1884, and was subsequently spun off during the [[Successors of Standard Oil|Standard Oil divestiture]] in 1911.

[[File:Conoco logo1930.png|thumb|left|120px|Conoco logo of 1930, after its acquisition by Marland Oil Co.]]
The main office was later moved to [[Ponca City, Oklahoma]], when in 1929, [[Marland Oil Company]] (founded by exploration pioneer [[E. W. Marland]]) acquired the Continental Oil Company.<ref name="History"/><ref name=GT-DEX-1929-09>{{cite web|title=History of ConocoPhillips Canada|url=http://www.conocophillips.ca/EN/about/history/Pages/index.aspx|publisher=ConocoPhilips Canada|access-date=2 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918020310/http://www.conocophillips.ca/EN/about/history/Pages/index.aspx|archive-date=18 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Marland Oil acquired the assets (subject to liabilities) of Continental Oil Company for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock. The merged company took the more recognizable Continental name along with the Conoco brand. However, it adopted Marland's red triangle logo, which it retained until 1970, when the now-familiar capsule logo was adopted.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marland Oil Company {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MA026&l=|access-date=2020-11-13|website=okhistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Mufson|first=Steven|title=Marland estate, from an earlier oil boom|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/keystone-down-the-line/wp/2012/07/29/marland-estate-from-an-earlier-oil-boom/|access-date=2020-11-13|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Offshore oil well drilling platform, Continental Oil Co., C.A.T.C., Gulf of Mexico.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Conoco offshore oil well drilling platform, [[Gulf of Mexico]], c.1955]]
[[Dan Moran]] (1888–1948, led company 1928–1947), who succeeded Marland Oil Company founder E. W. Marland as president of Marland Oil in 1928, and subsequently became the first president of the merged Conoco. Moran then ran Conoco for twenty years, seeing the company through economic hardships and challenges of the [[Great Depression]] of the [[1930s]], and retiring in 1947, the year before he died.<ref>[https://www.conocophillips.com/about-us/our-history/1929-1910/ Conoco. "Our History 1910 – 1929" retrieved May 31, 2021.]</ref> The company ran into early trouble when, shortly after acquisition, it was hit by the [[Wall Street crash of 1929|Great New York Stock Market Crash]] of October 1929. Conoco became a key supplier to the [[United States]] federal government and its world-wide deployment of the [[United States Armed Forces]], along with several other [[Allies (World War II)|Allied powers and their militaries]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] (1939/1941-1945).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Banham |first1=Russ |title=Conoco: 125 Years of Energy |date=2000 |publisher=Greenwich Publishing Group, Inc. |location=Lyme, Conn. |isbn=0944641385 |page=67}}</ref>

Under the leadership of successor [[Leonard F. McCollum]], Conoco grew from a regional petroleum company to a global corporation in the post-war years after World War II of the late [[1940s]] and into the [[1950s]]. Another rough patch for the company came two decades later during the [[1970s energy crisis]], beginning with the 1973-1974 [[1973 oil crisis|Arab oil embargo]] (resulting from the fourth [[Yom Kippur War|Arab-Israeli conflict]] of the [[Yom Kippur War]] of October 1973), from which it did not fully recover until 1981, when Conoco became a subsidiary of former corporate rival [[DuPont]] company of [[Wilmington, Delaware]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Friedman|first=Thomas L.|date=1981-08-06|title=DU PONT VICTOR IN COSTLY BATTLE TO BUY CONOCO (Published 1981)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/06/business/du-pont-victor-in-costly-battle-to-buy-conoco.html|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Sloan|first=Allan|date=1998-11-03|title=DUPONT'S 17-YEAR OWNERSHIP OF CONOCO WAS A LOW-OCTANE INVESTMENT|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/11/03/duponts-17-year-ownership-of-conoco-was-a-low-octane-investment/ef8e80f7-2fc2-4ce5-a33c-aa08d7f7d866/|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

[[File:Old Conoco Station - Commerce.jpg|thumb|Former Conoco service station in [[Commerce, Oklahoma]], pictured in 2008]]
In 1981, [[Dome Petroleum]] made a [[tender offer]] for 20% of Conoco. More than 50% of Conoco shares were tendered, evidence that shareholders were unhappy, and several companies made their own tender offers to take over Conoco.<ref name="nocera198210">{{Cite magazine |last=Nocera |first=Joseph |date=October 1982 |title="It's Time To Make a Deal" |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/its-time-to-make-a-deal/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |magazine=Texas Monthly |language=en}}</ref> Cash rich and wanting to diversify, [[Seagram]] Company Ltd. engineered a takeover of Conoco. Although Seagram acquired a 32.2% stake in Conoco, DuPont was brought in as a "[[white knight]]" by the oil company and entered the bidding war. Mobil Corporation, the nation's second-largest oil company at the time, also joined the bid, and borrowed $5 billion to bid for Cocono.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cole|first=Robert J.|date=1981-07-14|title=MOBIL IS REORTED TO SEEK $5 BILLION TO BID FOR CONOCO (Published 1981)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/14/business/mobil-is-reorted-to-seek-5-billion-to-bid-for-conoco.html|access-date=2020-11-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In the end, Seagram and Mobil lost out in the Conoco bidding war.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Friedman|first=Thomas L.|date=1981-08-06|title=DU PONT VICTOR IN COSTLY BATTLE TO BUY CONOCO (Published 1981)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/06/business/du-pont-victor-in-costly-battle-to-buy-conoco.html|access-date=2020-11-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In exchange for its stake in Conoco Inc, Seagram became a 24.3% owner (almost one-quarter of stock / interest) of the DuPont company.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}  By 1995, Seagram was DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wayne|first=Leslie|date=1985-08-11|title=SEAGRAM PUTS ITS FAITH IN CHEMICALS (Published 1985)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/11/business/seagram-puts-its-faith-in-chemicals.html|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1998, DuPont sold 30% of Conoco,<ref name="Split">"[http://www.poncacitynews.com/NewsArchives/0598folder/lo051198.html DuPont, Conoco Splitting]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010715172330/http://www.poncacitynews.com/NewsArchives/0598folder/lo051198.html|date=2001-07-15}}." ''[[Ponca City News]]''. Monday May 11, 1998. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.</ref> and in 1999, DuPont sold the remaining 70% stake it holds in Conoco Inc.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dupont announces "split-off" of Conoco unit – Jul. 9, 1999|url=https://money.cnn.com/1999/07/09/companies/dupont/#:~:text=Dupont%20announces%20%22split-off%22,9,%201999&text=NEW%20YORK%20(CNNfn)%20-%20DuPont,the%20Houston-based%20oil%20company.|access-date=2020-11-09|publisher=CNN}}</ref> When the independent Conoco went public in October 1998, under a retooled name, Continental Oil Company, it resulted in the largest IPO in history.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hamilton|first=Martha M.|date=1998-10-22|title=CONOCO RAISES $4.4 BILLION IN IPO|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/10/22/conoco-raises-44-billion-in-ipo/cf10ce79-9c48-4f79-9c2c-522b0a5ea07b/|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Conoco revamps IPO to draw $4.4 billion – Oct. 21, 1998|url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/10/21/markets/conoco/|access-date=2020-11-09|publisher=CNN}}</ref> In 2001, Conoco announced it has agreed to buy [[Gulf Canada]] for [[Canadian dollar|C$]]6.7 billion dollars ([[Canada|Canadian]]), (equal to $4.3 billion, in the United States currency).<ref>{{Cite web|title=CNN.com – Conoco to buy Gulf Canada for $4.3B – May 29, 2001|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/BUSINESS/05/29/conoco/index.html|access-date=2020-11-10|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Barrionuevo|first1=Alexei|last2=Carlisle|first2=Tamsin|date=2001-05-30|title=Conoco Reaches Deal to Buy Gulf Canada for $4.33 Billion|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB991135317583560130|access-date=2020-11-10|issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Oil patch merger: Conoco gets Gulf Canada for $9.8 billion {{!}} CBC News|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oil-patch-merger-conoco-gets-gulf-canada-for-9-8-billion-1.288373|access-date=2020-11-10}}</ref> Conoco merged with [[Phillips Petroleum]] in 2002 to form [[ConocoPhillips]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ConocoPhillips|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78214/000095012903000402/h00848a1sv4za.htm#:~:text=About%20ConocoPhillips&text=We%20were%20founded%20in%202002,we%20operate%20in%2049%20countries.|access-date=2020-11-10|publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2002-08-30|title=With Conditions, FTC Approves Merger of Phillips and Conoco|url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2002/08/conditions-ftc-approves-merger-phillips-and-conoco|access-date=2020-11-10|website=Federal Trade Commission|language=en}}</ref>

== Corporate headquarters ==
[[File:ConocoPhilipsHQ.JPG|thumb|Conoco Inc. headquarters in the [[Energy Corridor]] area of [[Houston]], current [[ConocoPhillips]] headquarters]]
Before the merger, Conoco had its headquarters in what is now the current ConocoPhillips headquarters in the [[Energy Corridor]] of [[Houston]]; the complex was formerly known as the Conoco Center.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.conoco.com/writeus/index.html |title="Write Conoco!." |access-date=2017-04-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970219172411/http://www.conoco.com/writeus/index.html |archive-date=February 19, 1997 }} Conoco Inc. February 19, 1997. Retrieved on January 16, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.conoco.com/intl/hq.html |title="Conoco World Headquarters Address." |access-date=2017-04-20 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961101082731/http://www.conoco.com/intl/hq.html |archive-date=November 1, 1996 }} Conoco Inc. November 1, 1996. Retrieved on January 17, 2010.</ref>

The headquarters of Conoco moved to Houston, in 1949.<ref name="History"/> In 1965, the headquarters moved back East to [[Manhattan]], in [[New York City]]. Seven years later in 1972, the headquarters moved northeast outside New York City to adjacent suburban [[Stamford, Connecticut]]; there in Stamford, Conoco occupied space in the three-story High Ridge Park commercial complex, remaining for a decade.<ref name="Stamfordclosing">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yr8RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=se4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6879,2661916&dq=conoco+headquarters+houston+wilmington&hl=en Conoco Offices to Close]{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." ''[[The New York Times]]'' at ''[[The Spokesman-Review]]''. Sunday November 7, 1982. C10. [[Google News]] 48 of 67. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.</ref> In 1982, the DuPont company announced that Conoco's headquarters would move again from Stamford, Connecticut further south down the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] to [[Wilmington, Delaware]], where DuPont's headquarters were located since its founding almost 222  years earlier in 1802.<ref>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2945AD55EA262&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM DU PONT TO MOVE CONOCO'S OFFICES]." ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''. November 6, 1982. D08. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.</ref> The move occurred in 1982.<ref name="Split"/> Edward G. Jefferson, the chairperson then of DuPont, said that the headquarters relocation was to bring the head workforces of DuPont and Conoco together. DuPont also announced that it was closing the Conoco offices in Stamford; the lease in the Stamford commercial offices complex was originally scheduled to expire in 1992.<ref name="Stamfordclosing"/>

== Conoco–Iran deal ==
In 1995, Conoco Inc. was awarded a contract by the [[Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]] to develop a huge offshore oilfield in the adjacent [[Persian Gulf]] to the south. It was the first energy agreement involving Iran and the [[United States]] since [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] severed diplomatic relations 15 years before with [[Tehran]] in 1979–1980, during the [[Embassy of the United States, Tehran|American Embassy]] invasion, seizure and occupation there by mobs of student activists and taking U.S. diplomats hostage for a year in the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. The contract was signed after three years of protracted negotiations.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/07/world/iran-signs-oil-deal-with-conoco-first-since-1980-break-with-us.html Iran Signs Oil Deal With Conoco; First Since 1980 Break With U.S.] ''The New York Times'' – March 7, 1995</ref> However, the company dropped the plan after the [[White House]] announced that after further consideration and consultation, that 42nd [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]] (born 1946, served 1993–2001), would issue a directive blocking all such transactions on grounds of [[national security]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/01/world/clinton-to-order-a-trade-embargo-against-teheran.html CLINTON TO ORDER A TRADE EMBARGO AGAINST TEHERAN] ''The New York Times'' – May 1, 1995</ref>

== Museum ==
The official Conoco historical [[museum]] was completed in 2007 and is located in [[Ponca City, Oklahoma]], along with the preserved 1914 mansion [[Marland Grand Home]] on Grand Avenue, residence of co-founder E. W. (Ernest Whitworth) Marland (1874–1941) and his two wives and adopted children.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.conocomuseum.com |title=Homepage|publisher=Conoco Museum|accessdate=May 10, 2021}}</ref>

== Conoco brand ==
[[File:Conoco Quick Stop, Miles City (6768297825).jpg|thumb|Conoco gas station and quick shop in Miles City, Montana]]
<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: This section (about the brand) needs to be expanded. -->
Along with sister brands, Phillips 66, and 76, "Conoco" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|ə|k|oʊ}}),<ref>Per exhibit at the Conoco Museum in [[Ponca City]], Oklahoma, viewed May 5, 2021.</ref> is a major American brand of oil and gas station that has been owned by [[Phillips 66]] since 2012 and was originally the brand used by its originator, Conoco Inc., from 1875 to its merger with Phillips Petroleum in 2002. Although the Conoco brand can be used in any state in which the Phillips 66 Company operates, it is very rare to see the Conoco brand in California and Oregon where the 76 brand predominates.<ref>[https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Conoco-USA/ Scrape Hero. "How many Conoco locations are there in the United States in 2021?" retrieved May 31, 2021.]</ref><ref>[https://www.scrapehero.com/store/product/76-gas-station-locations-in-the-usa/ Scrape hero. "76 gas station locations in the USA" retrieved May 31, 2021.]</ref>

== Leadership ==

=== President ===

# Isaac E. Blake, 1877–1893
# [[Henry Morgan Tilford|Henry M. Tilford]], 1893–1907
# Edward T. Wilson, 1907–1924
# C. E. Strong, 1924–1927
# Sidney H. Keoughan, 1927–1929
# [[Dan Moran|Daniel J. Moran]], 1929–1947
# Leonard F. McCollum, 1947–1964
# Andrew W. Tarkington, 1964–1969
# John G. McLean, 1969–1972
# Howard W. Blauvelt, 1974
# Dr John E. Kircher, 1974–1977
# Ralph E. Bailey, 1977–1987
# Constantine S. Nicandros, 1987–1995
# Archie W. Dunham, 1996–2002

=== Chairman of the Board ===

# Edward T. Wilson, 1929–19??
# Charles A. Perlitz Jr, 1963–1964
# Leonard F. McCollum, 1964–1972
# John G. McLean, 1972–1974
# Howard W. Blauvelt, 1974–1979
# Ralph E. Bailey, 1979–1987
# Constantine S. Nicandros, 1995–1996
# [[Edgar S. Woolard Jr.]], 1998–1999
# [[Archie W. Dunham]], 1999–2002

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|author=Mathews, John Joseph |date=1992|edition=1951|title=Life and Death of an Oil Man: The Career of E. W. Marland|location= Norman, Oklahoma|publisher= [[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=0-8061-1238-7}}
* ''[[iarchive:conocofirstonehu0000unse/mode/2up|Conoco: The First One Hundred Years]]''. [[Dell Publishing]], 1975.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061010130702/http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/yearman/somalia.htm  The Conoco-Somalia Declassification Project at College of DuPage]

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